Quite a risk, but man if it pays off it might go down as the greatest move Danny Ainge has made. Stevens is either going to be an epic great hire, or burnt out and sick of NBA players in about 18 months. At least he has found away to get a premier NCAA job without looking like he ran from Butler.

I got to spend a little time with Brad Stevens this past month. He is as down home, humble and meek as he looks on TV. His players are going to war on game day and he always acts like he is at a tennis match. His stoic reaction when Butler beat Gonzaga with the quasi-miracle finish this year was classic. He had invited some of us down to watch a practice later this month (they will be prepping for an out-of-country trip). I was looking forward to it, but I guess that's not gonna happen.

Butler v Duke NCAA championship game is the best game I've seen at any level.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

OldDawg wrote:I got to spend a little time with Brad Stevens this past month. He is as down home, humble and meek as he looks on TV. His players are going to war on game day and he always acts like he is at a tennis match. His stoic reaction when Butler beat Gonzaga with the quasi-miracle finish this year was classic. He had invited some of us down to watch a practice later this month (they will be prepping for an out-of-country trip). I was looking forward to it, but I guess that's not gonna happen.

Butler v Duke NCAA championship game is the best game I've seen at any level.

Oh boy. This is simply going to light the wick on e0y2e3's 4th of July.

I've read that the experts now expect the Celtics to trade Rondo just for that reason. As a commitment to give time for Ainge / Stevens to build a new C's team. Rondo's attitude would make Stevens' adjustment to the NBA difficult.

The hiring of Stevens indicates a trade is upcoming for Rajon Rondo, who is among the smartest and most stubborn stars in the NBA. Rivers is known for being able to cajole with, reason with and confront players as well as any coach in the league, and it required the full array of his talents and three decades of NBA experiences in order to maintain a constructive relationship with Rondo.Ainge understands the strengths and weaknesses of Rondo better than anyone. It is hard to imagine him introducing Stevens to the NBA by pairing him with Rondo, who would routinely question moves and undermine the new coach before he could develop a working knowledge of the league. Stevens, more so than Rondo, represents the future of the Celtics now.Ainge has spent the past decade learning the NBA from the point of view of a team president who won a championship and also lost 107 games over the preceding two seasons. Instead of hiring a coach who acquired his NBA lessons elsewhere, Ainge has brought in a young talent who is going to learn, with the help of Ainge, the meaning of the Celtics' long tradition. The departure of Rivers left Ainge with full power over the team, and he is wielding that power in an audacious and promising way.Stevens was known for running an NBA-styled offense dependent on pick-and-rolls while leading Butler to NCAA title games in 2010 and '11.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

OldDawg wrote:Butler v Duke NCAA championship game is the best game I've seen at any level.

Oh boy. This is simply going to light the wick on e0y2e3's 4th of July.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Not sure what anyone else's eye beholds, but beauty in my eye is two teams truly competing with every ounce of strength they possess, fighting, scratching and clawing as if every possession was game point, leaving everything on the floor. Part of that competing considers the level of fundamental play and intense defensive pressure. That game was a 40-minute loose ball drill. I would certainly feel comfortable using that game as a measuring stick on how to compete and play the game of basketball. The only improvement on that game would have been if the half-court end-of-game buzzer shot would have been an inch different and gone in for Butler.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

OldDawg wrote:Butler v Duke NCAA championship game is the best game I've seen at any level.

Oh boy. This is simply going to light the wick on e0y2e3's 4th of July.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Not sure what anyone else's eye beholds, but beauty in my eye is two teams truly competing with every ounce of strength they possess, fighting, scratching and clawing as if every possession was game point, leaving everything on the floor. Part of that competing considers the level of fundamental play and intense defensive pressure. That game was a 40-minute loose ball drill. I would certainly feel comfortable using that game as a measuring stick on how to compete and play the game of basketball. The only improvement on that game would have been if the half-court end-of-game buzzer shot would have been an inch different and gone in for Butler.

I agree. From a leave-everything-on-the-court sense it was something to see. From an aesthetically pleasing/basketball skills standpoint it was a horror show. But I'm trying to teach my youngest that some games, and some very important ones at that, aren't weave drills and perfect passes and shots. Some games are sloppy, choppy, and grind-through-it games and they still need to be won. Her sport happens to be soccer but it works the same. A goal scored in a scrum in front of the net is as beautiful as any other goal of it provides the margin of victory.

jb wrote:In other news, Brad Stevens was just voted the recipient of the PJ Carlissimo Memorial Award for the next NBA HC likely to have the shit choked out of him.

???

On the contrary, Brad Stevens appears to be one of the least confrontational college head coaches out there. It's amazing how hard his teams play while he shows little emotion on the sideline. A coach with a confrontational approach is more likely to be "choked," if you will. I could see NBA players disrespecting Stevens, but certainly not what you suggest.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

jb wrote:In other news, Brad Stevens was just voted the recipient of the PJ Carlissimo Memorial Award for the next NBA HC likely to have the shit choked out of him.

???

On the contrary, Brad Stevens appears to be one of the least confrontational college head coaches out there. It's amazing how hard his teams play while he shows little emotion on the sideline. A coach with a confrontational approach is more likely to be "choked," if you will. I could see NBA players disrespecting Stevens, but certainly not what you suggest.

You seem to think I'm bagging Stevens instad of the Association and many of it's players.

Stevens may be a great baseball coach. He doesn't have to be "confrontational". All he has to do is show up having never played or coached in the NBA and have the audacity to try to coach a player and it's on with some of these idiots.

Rondo will never give him a chance. Hell, the cavs fragged Byron Scott.

In the history of dumb hires this is up there. And FTR I think Brad Stevns is one hell of a college coach.

Oh well, he'll hav ethe money and his choice of college jobs after his 2 - 3 years of pure hell, so he's got THAt part of the faustian bargain going for him, which is noce.

Look, if freaking Pitino and Calipari couldn't do it it can't be done.

jb wrote:In other news, Brad Stevens was just voted the recipient of the PJ Carlissimo Memorial Award for the next NBA HC likely to have the shit choked out of him.

???

On the contrary, Brad Stevens appears to be one of the least confrontational college head coaches out there. It's amazing how hard his teams play while he shows little emotion on the sideline. A coach with a confrontational approach is more likely to be "choked," if you will. I could see NBA players disrespecting Stevens, but certainly not what you suggest.

So Stevens will ask "please?" after telling a player to " put a bit more mustard on that pass" ?

I don't need to be patient, they're going to be shit forever. - CDT, discussing my favorite NFL team

jb wrote:In other news, Brad Stevens was just voted the recipient of the PJ Carlissimo Memorial Award for the next NBA HC likely to have the shit choked out of him.

???

On the contrary, Brad Stevens appears to be one of the least confrontational college head coaches out there. It's amazing how hard his teams play while he shows little emotion on the sideline. A coach with a confrontational approach is more likely to be "choked," if you will. I could see NBA players disrespecting Stevens, but certainly not what you suggest.

So Stevens will ask "please?" after telling a player to " put a bit more mustard on that pass" ?